The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: Reimagined

Foreword: This post contains spoilers for the The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Table of Contents

• Introduction: This Post | Blog
• Part 0 – Adventure Outline: Reddit | Blog
• Part 1 – Preparation: Reddit | Blog
• Part 2 – Lost Things: Reddit | Blog | Revised 7/25/22
• Part 3 – The Interlude: Reddit | Blog
• Part 4A – The Witchlight Carnival (Section A): Reddit | Blog
• Part 4B – The Witchlight Carnival (Section B): Reddit | Blog
• Part 5: Murkendraw (Welcome to the Swamp): Reddit | Blog
• Part 6: Murkendraw (Locations of the Swamp): Reddit | Blog
• Part 7: Murkendraw (Downfall and Bavlorna): Reddit | Blog
• Part 8: The Fields of Spring (aka Thither): Reddit | Blog
• Part 9: The Fields of Spring (Vale Crossing – Section A): Reddit | Blog
• Part 10: The Fields of Spring (Vale Crossing – Section B): Reddit | Blog
• Part 11: The Fields of Spring (The Shroudwood): Reddit | Blog
• Part 12: The Fields of Spring (Loomlurch): Reddit | Blog
• Part 13: The Fields of Spring (The Golden Fields): Reddit | Blog
• Part 14: The Fields of Spring (The Green Keep): Reddit | Blog
• Part 15: Yon: Reddit | Blog
• Future parts coming soon!

Introduction

Before The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, official materials on the Feywild for 5th edition were slim, and limited to things like the Yeth Hound and Darkling stat blocks from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. But prior editions hinted at the wonders of the plane of the Fey — a place of beauty full of strange creatures, unknown magics, and emotions brought to life. So when Wizards of the Coast announced The Wild Beyond the Witchlight in the summer of 2021, I was very excited. I couldn’t wait for my players to behold the grandeur of the court of the Summer Queen, to venture into the cold expanse ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness, and so on.

So when I got my hands on my copy of the campaign, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when I found that these things were missing altogether, and instead the campaign was focused instead on the newly created domain of Prismeer. Furthermore, while I appreciate the book’s playful nature and the ability to avoid combat, I knew a more balanced mix of combat and roleplay, with some darker turns, was a better fit for my table. And as someone who’s played or read through many of the official campaigns, hags, who feature heavily elsewhere, were definitely not what I was hoping for (though they are fantastic villains nonetheless!). Even stranger was that the campaign stars Iggwilv, The Witch Queen — a perfect option for an adversary who instead was relegated to a damsel in distress.

Despite all of this, there are a lot of great aspects of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. It’s a very well-written adventure, in my humble opinion, with colorful NPCs, lots of exciting roleplay opportunities, and just the right amount of whimsy. So when I read it for the first time, I knew I had to run it for my table nonetheless — there would just be some… edits. My campaign actually just kicked off last month, but as I’ve been planning and making these adjustments, I realized there were probably a lot of others out there (including you, I hope, dear reader!) who might also be interested in my work and hence the reason for this article — and soon to be series of articles.

What Is IndieRex’s “The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: Reimagined”?

The first campaign I ever ran as a Dungeon Master was Curse of Strahd and the second was Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. Now a question for you: What does a horror campaign about the vampire ruler of Ravenloft have to do with a jaunt through the city of splendors for treasure? The answer is an amazing community that’s put a lot of work and sweat into improving those campaigns. In particular, the so-called “remixes” of these adventures by the community served as essential guides for me, and many many others, in running these modules, and I’d be remiss to not call out my favorites:

• Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
  • The Alexandrian Remix by Justin Alexander
• Curse of Strahd
  • Curse of Strahd Reloaded by u/DragnaCarta
  • Fleshing out Curse of Strahd by u/MandyMod

These “remixes” share a lot of goals, ranging from addressing narrative inconsistencies to expanding content. For IndieRex’s The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: Reimagined, I aim to accomplish the following:

• Provide advice, tips, and tricks for running the adventure
• Expand the campaign to include the Summer and Winter Courts of the Feywild as well as take the adventure far past level 8 for players
• Introduce new areas, monsters, and magical items
• Naturally integrate combat into the campaign

My goal is not to create the end-all be-all version of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, and it likely won’t be fully consistent with the past lore of the Forgotten Realms. The reimagining will assuredly reflect my own personal preferences and as a result won’t be for everyone — and that’s okay! Just take what’s best for your campaign and feel free to discard the rest. My only hope is that there’s at least something that can make the adventure for you and players more fun. Lastly, this will be a living document. Based on your feedback or as new ideas come to me I may go back and adjust and refine the entries over time.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any comments, questions, or things you’d like included and… see you in the Feywild!